civil rights act. but he may finally feel pressured to answer questions from his hometown press. this may yet be a growth experience for the young freshman senator. we shall see and we hope so. we shall see and we shall hope so. "first look" is up next. good tuesday morning. right now on "first look," breaking news. police have new details from the shooting scene at a popular north jersey shopping mall, including the body of the shopper found inside the mall. it's election day across the country. voters will weigh in on their candidate of choice and the issues most important to them. bullying in the nfl. the latest details from the miami dolphins saga. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. we begin with breaking news from last night's new jersey mall shooting. paramus police have just spoken to the media and say the suspected gunman, 20-year-old richard shoop, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

nbc's ron allen is live outside the mall. ron, good morning. what have you just learned? >> reporter: well, mara, we've learned that this situation, this terrifying ordeal through the night for so many people here at this huge mall is over, and it ends with the death of a lone gunman, who apparently committed suicide, took his own life, which police say apparently was his intention. 20-year-old richard shoop, from an area, from a town that's not far from here. again, unclear what his motive may have been, but police said he came to this mall and he apparently did not intend to leave alive. they also said that he fired perhaps as many as six rounds, six shots, none of them directed at people, and police say that he did have the opportunity to kill people because he was right in the middle of the mall, but he fired at property, he fired in the air. we spoke to witnesses here, people who saw him, came face to face with this gunman, terrifying. there must have been thousands of people here. it was about 9:20 at night or so when the 911 calls started coming in.

many people tried to evacuate, others locked down inside stores, as is the procedure here. no one was injured. one dead, the gunman. everyone out of here now tonight safely. just having incredible stories to tell about how they came face to face with this gunman in some cases, but they're now home safe. the mall locked down, closed for the day tuesday, a situation that obviously could have been so much worse but is now over. mara? >> absolutely, could have been so much worse and thank goodness it wasn't. ron allen in new jersey, thanks so much for that. now to the latest developments in the l.a.x. shooting investigation. court documents say the alleged gunman's roommate dropped him off at the airport friday, but that roommate had no idea what was about to happen. police say 23-year-old paul ciancia walked inside terminal 3 with an assault rifle, plenty of ammunition and a signed letter stating he wanted to kill as many tsa officers as he could, saying, "black, white, yellow, brown, i don't discriminate." police say ciancia fatally shot a tsa officer and injured two

other officers and a teacher. >> i was injured while helping an elder man trying to get to a safe area. i turned around and there was a gunman and he shot me twice. >> police shot ciancia in the face and he is still unable to communicate, but his condition is improving. his family says they are shocked and numbed by the tragedy. well, election day is finally here, and after months of hearing from the candidates, it's now up to you, the voters. here's what's happening around the country. virginia has arguably the most watched gubernatorial race. democrat terry mcauliffe holds a slight lead over republican attorney general ken cuccinelli. the gop has tried to make the race a referendum on obama care. bill de blasio could become the first klatt elected mayor of new york city since 1989. polls give him sizable leads over republican joe loada. new jersey governor chris christie is hoping for a second term. democrat barbara buono has so far failed to dent christie's

popularity with independents. detroit voters pick their next mayor, businessman mike dugan and sheriff ben aeny napo are vying for the job to lead the debt-ridden city. in colorado, voters will weigh in on a controversial taxing scheme for the sale of legal marijuana, and 11 counties will decide whether to pursue splitting away and forming their own state. the nfl is investigating charges that a miami dolphins player was bullied by a teammate who sent him racist and threatening texts. the dolphins suspended guard richie incognito for conduct detrimental to the team, and "the miami herald" reports that it plans to cut ties with him. incognito allegedly sent messages that were racist and threatening. he says the charges are false. dolphins tackle jonathan martin left the team last week and has reportedly been bullied ever since he was a rookie last year. martin says he was pressured into paying $15,000 for incognito and teammates to go to las vegas.

the players union is also investigating what may be serious problems in the dolphins locker room culture. a bill protecting the lgbt community from workplace discrimination has cleared a big hurdle in the senate, and it succeeded with some republican support. today, gay rights advocates are praising the move, but celebrations could be short lived. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington with the latest. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: mara, good morning. that's because what we expect will come up for a vote and likely pass in the senate by the end of this week probably won't even come up for a vote in the house. republican speaker john boehner has said he thinks that this antidiscrimination law could promote frivolous lawsuits and threaten jobs, and he may not even bring it to the floor for a vote. so, there are a couple of options there. the senate likely to pass this, by the way, with republican support. there were seven republicans who signed on last night as they voted to move the bill forward. the white house could issue an executive order. the president could, and the

white house has said that they have not ruled that out, but if they do, it would only cover federal contractors. what they're trying to get at is the majority of the states where there is absolutely no law at all protecting gay and lesbian workers from discrimination in the workplace. mara? >> all right, tracie potts in washington. thanks, tracie. and now let's get to the very latest in sports from my friend, alex witt. alex, good morning. >> and a good morning to you. let's get to it. "monday night football" to talk about. first quarter, aaron rodgers is sacked by bears defensive end mcclelon, injuring rodgers' nonthrowing elbow and he left the game. in the third quarter, green bay's eddie lacy broke through the bears defense. it's a 56-yard run. he was taken down on the 1 yard line, but on the next play, he goes in for the touchdown to tie the game at 17. then the bears josh mccone connects with jeffrey for a six-yard touchdown pass. bears edge green bay 27-20.

nfl.com reports that houston texans coach gary kubiak suffered what's being called a mini stroke. >> oh, wow. >> yeah. kubiak remains hospitalized, being monitored. he collapsed during sunday night's game against the colts. 58-year-old denver head coach john fox had aortic valve replacement surgery on monday in florida and jack del rio will act as interim head coach while fox recovers for a few weeks or so. president obama welcomed the 2013 stanley cup champion chicago blackhawks to the white house. the president offered a message for the other teams in chicago. >> to the bulls, bears, cubs, white sox, i am term limited, so you guys have got to get moving. i need to see you here soon. championships belong in chicago. so, to the blackhawks, thank you for bringing it back home. thanks for bringing the stanley cup. >> yeah, presidential pressure. >> home team pride. >> totally. this is a junior college game, everyone. javonte douglas of central

florida community college -- >> wow. >> look at that sky high, what an amazing slam. he's 6'8" and reached near the top of the back board, but that is 13 feet off the ground. >> i'm sure being 6'8" helps. >> definitely. john brown university in arkansas scored its first basket of the season. so, what happened? watch this. toilet paper goes flying! that's a team tradition. >> love it. >> the fans get rolls of toilet paper to celebrate and the eagles were given a technical foul, but you know what? they won the game and get the best video of the day award. >> that looks fun. we should do it here. thanks, alex. this is a disturbing story that makes he itch all over. look before you bite that banana. a british family was forced to leave their home after noticing dozens of spiders hatching from bananas. we don't show it. and scurrying across the table and carpet. the creepy crawlers were brazilian wandering spiders, or appropriately called banana spiders. they look like this as adults. they are considered the world's most venomous. and now bill karins is here.

it's really disturbing. >> i never heard of that spider before. >> i wish i could unknown this, because knowing that it's possible really freaks me out. >> you could buy produce with eggs in it that could be wandering your house at night? >> exactly. this bothers me a lot. >> great. thanks. the nightmares you gave everyone out there. everyone's opening their banana like this right now. good morning, everyone. as you head out this tuesday, the east coast is looking okay, but it's still cold in new england. temperatures down to 25 once again. so, two cold mornings in a row pretty much from new york city northwards, but it will warm up. there will be a little more clouds today. temperatures will be right around 50 degrees, call it 49 in boston. so, a little bit warmer than yesterday, especially there at pittsburgh, philadelphia and d.c. and there's a warming trend out through about thursday. as far as the rest of the country goes, all the travel troubles going to be in the middle of the country where we're going to be watching this next storm coming in. winter weather advisories. yes, a little mini winter storm from the mountains of colorado all the way up through minneapolis. we're not talking about really crazy, huge totals, but we will be seeing a little bit of snow

out there. rapid city's already getting a little bit. later on tonight is when it will move into areas like minneapolis. maybe 4 inches possible, so that's significant for the first snow of the season. other areas of rain will be from dallas all the way up to chicago. so, again, east coast travels, no problem, mara. it's right in the heartland where we'll have some issues. >> seems like it just got cold suddenly in general. just happened overnight. >> it's not going to last, though. you don't need your winter coat probably the next two days, even in the mid-atlantic. >> good news! i'll look forward to it. thanks, bill. coming up, president obama pushes back against the health care critics. plus, amazing, exclusive video obtained by nbc news of the moment when two sky diving planes collide. it is unbelievable. details coming up next.

welcome back. now to some other stories making news this morning. there are reports of two armed men hold up in an empty middle school in denver. police say they received word of the break-in last night and that s.w.a.t. teams have surrounded the school. authorities are using the school's p.a. system to try and

communicate with the men. president obama is pushing back against criticism he misled the public over his health care law. the president said americans who are getting kicked off their insurance plans are often getting "a very bad deal" and that virtually every insurer is offering newer, better plans. video obtained exclusively by nbc news shows the unbelievable moment when two sky diving planes collide above wisconsin on saturday. helmet cams captured the collision and the fireball as everyone begins a rapid descent. amazingly, all nine skydivers and the two pilots survived. matt lauer will be speaking with ten of them on "today." and some viewers may find this surveillance video from a georgia gas station disturbing. it shows a man flicking a cigarette lighter and igniting gas vapors that cause his wife's clothes to catch fire. she was hospitalized with second and third-degree burns. the man was charged with reckless conduct.

coming up in "scrambled politics," jimmy carter reveals when he almost came to fisticuffs with another world leader. that and the best political buzz of the morning is just ahead. and now for your first look at business, we turn to cnbc's jackie deangelis. jackie, good morning. >> good morning, mara. good news for apple. at&t saying activations for the new ipad air more than tripled this weekend, compared to the launch of the ipad 4 last year. at&t says demand was driven by its mobile share service, which lets people add an ipad for their existing data plan for $10 a month. meantime, pack a sandwich on thanksgiving day. there's definitely some shopping to do. kmart and sears saying they'll be open from 6:00 a.m. straight through black friday. retailers are nervous, of course, about the holidays following some disappointing back-to-school sales. and finally, google is offering some help out there, launching a live video chat service with experts offering advice on everything from cooking to home repair. sessions can run from a few minutes to several hours and prices are set by the expert.

mara, for me and a cooking lesson, it would have to be more than several hours, i'm guessing. >> very interesting. we'll have to see how that goes. all right, thanks, jackie. just ahead, "washington post" reporter aaron blake weighs in on today's big election contests. and hear why john mccain is sleeping like a baby these days. that's coming up. beth... and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can. i tr ied so you can. depend last weekend. it really made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. unlike the bargain brand, depend gives you new fit-flex®, our best protection. it's a smooth and comfortable fit with more lycra strands. get your free sample at depend.com.

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[ cheers and applause ] -- who, as you know, purchased the city with his pot of gold. but tomorrow, new yorkers will go to the polls to decide who will fill his shoes, his tiny, tiny shoes. >> now it's time for your first look at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." we hear from senator mark kirk on monday. the illinois republican gave his first extended floor speech since suffering a stroke some two years ago. he used his time to speak in favor of the employment nondiscrimination act. >> this is not a major change to law. i would say it is already the law in 21 states. i think it's particularly appropriate for an illinois republican to speak on behalf of this measure in the true tradition of everett mckinley dirkson and abraham lincoln, men who gave us the 1964 civil rights act. and the 13th amendment to the constitution.

>> senator kirk was joined by just six of his republican colleagues in voting yes on the measure. respected 2016 presidential candidates rand paul and marco rubio both voted no. and as the senate passed that bill, congressman mike mccode came out of the closet. the 58-year-old democrat who is also running for governor wrote an op ed for two state newspapers in response to what he called "whisper campaigns" about his sexuality. he acknowledged being gay, writing "yes, i am, but why should it matter?" apparently, former president jimmy carter was this close to slugging then south african president thabo mbeki. in the 1970s, mbeki was refusing to let aids patients in his country be treated. mr. carter now says he never came as close to getting into a fistfight than at that very moment. who knew he had it in him? the future of the houston astrodome is at stake today. voters are asked to authorize $217 million in bonds to transform it into a convention center. area leaders say if the

provision isn't passed, the structure will likely be torn down. and senator john mccain was on "late night with jimmy fallon" last night and here is part of their conversation. >> by the way, congratulations on your baby. >> aww, thank you, senator. >> i know exactly -- >> thank you very much. well, you know how good it feels. >> i know exactly how that is. after i lost running for president, i slept like a baby. >> did you? oh, good. you know exactly how it is. >> sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep two hours, wake up and cry. [ laughterlaughte laughter. >> and that's your morning's dish of "scrambled politics." now for more on politics, "washington post" reporter aaron blake has a first look at politics. thanks for being here. >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> i want to start with two of the most watched elections today, governors races in new jersey and virginia. in virginia, a conservative republican is expected to lose, and in new jersey, a moderate republican is expected to win, a blue state, no less, by a very

large margin. what does this tell us about the state of the gop? >> well, i think there's certainly going to be some soul searching in the republican party after this, as there has been for a number of years. chris christie is going to win by a potentially historic margin in new jersey while ken cuccinelli's campaign really wound up being rather disappointing in virginia. so, i think that, you know, we're starting to see the republican establishment, the chamber of commerce types start to push back a little bit, try to get a little bit more involved in republican primaries, and i think that next year they will point to these two elections as case in point for why this party needs to have more pragmatic business-friendly candidates on the ballot. >> now, president obama has been doing some damage control on the botched obama care rollout. are these problems with his signature piece of legislation going to make it impossible for him to focus on any other pieces of his legislative agenda or does he actually need to turn his attention to something else as a bit of a distraction? >> you know, i think it's hard

to turn the attention to something else right now, given that the problems are still out there. i think until those problems are gone and we're no longer talking about obama care kind of on a daily basis, it's very hard to turn to issues like immigration. i do think you can still get smaller things done. i think the white house is going to continue to push for this employment nondiscrimination act, among other things. but you know, congress has shown that its very difficult to get really big things done, and that goes double when you've got something like this hanging over your head, i believe. >> all right. aaron blake of "the washington post." thanks so much for your time this morning, aaron. >> thank you. coming up, bill karins and alex witt will be here for "first buzz." we'll tell you about all the stories that caught our attention this morning, including a wild night reminiscent of the film "the hangover." you don't want to miss this, coming pup. the day we rescued riley was a truly amazing day.

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it's time for "first buzz," all the stories that caught our attention this morning. joined by alex witt and bill karins. we were having a heated debate about rock, paper, scissors. >> it's one, two, three, shoot. it's not one, two -- >> so, if we get tired of bill and want to ship him off to another planet, there are options? >> apparently, there are options in the milky way. there about 8.8 billion planets the siftz earth. and they found itthey're in the goldilocks zone, not too warm, not too cold, and they're going to find out if there's life. >> going to sell me some property? >> that's next. >> does that mean that humans can conceivably live there? >> can you imagine if you go and find people, not people necessarily, but life? >> if you found any living being, even if it was an insect or anything. >> cockroach.

>> it would be huge! >> huge. >> it's a really cool story. >> it would turn everything on its head. it is cool. bill? talking about disturbing stories, people selling things on craigslist that they shouldn't be selling. >> they shouldn't be selling. >> you can go and buy a positive pregnancy test. and this is getting to be more -- >> that's not right. >> -- common thing. they're saying you can use it as a gag gift or one person posted maybe you want that man in your life to pop the question finally. can you imagine? >> no! >> men are really not that hard to fool. can't you just take a sharpie and make your own positive pregnancy test? >> or maybe you have a mother-in-law harassing you to get pregnant and you want to play a prank. it shouldn't be sold. >> no, that's wrong. >> but it seemed like if you wanted to create a fake, false pregnancy test, you shouldn't have to buy one. it's just a line on a piece of plastic. what do i know? all right, we'll send you out with some cool video, a modern-day version of "the hangover." some teens in france got drunk, they stole a llama from the

circus, then they took him all around town, they took him on the commuter train, they took pictures with him. >> what a great llama! >> the llama is back safe with his owner. >> he's the best! >> he didn't seem to mind the excursion at all. >> this is so "hangover"! >> "way too early" starts right now. ♪ democrat bill de blasio seemed poised for a historic and overwhelming victory over republican joe lhota. a "new york times"/sienna college poll gives him a 35% lead in the race to be the big apple's next mayor. >> a 45-point -- that's the same amount by which hot dog is beating rat on a stick as new york's favorite food. joe lhota is doing so badly, he may actually come in third to drunk anti-semitic times square elmo. that's how badly -- >> yes, it is election day. maybe the new york mayoral race doesn'